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Longtime Oriole Hendricks Dead of Heart Attack

BALTIMORE, Dec. 21 -- Elrod Hendricks, who spent a team-record 37 years with the Baltimore Orioles as a player and coach, died Wednesday of a heart attack at a local hospital, a source with the team confirmed. Hendricks would have turned 65 on Thursday.

Hendricks was attending a dinner at the BWI Marriott in Linthicum when he fell unconscious. He was taken to the Baltimore-Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, where he died shortly after arriving. He is survived by his wife, Merle, and six children, four from a previous marriage.

"I'm shocked," Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo said when reached late Wednesday night. Hendricks had left a message on Perlozzo's phone earlier on Wednesday.

"He sounded just as peachy and perky as ever," Perlozzo said. "You wouldn't believe how good he sounded."

Perlozzo said he saved the message because it had not come in clearly and he wanted to replay it later. "I'm probably now going to keep it on my phone," he said.

The popular Hendricks, who had been the longest tenured on-field member of the organization, suffered through various health problems the past two years, including a stroke on April 14 of this year and testicular cancer in 2003. Though he appeared to be fully recovered from the stroke, the Orioles, citing health concerns, decided at the end of this season not to renew his contract as bullpen coach.

"Everybody was worried after the stroke, but he seemed fine and was his normal self," Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons said on Wednesday night.

Hendricks, who had been the bullpen coach for the past 28 seasons, was disappointed with the decision. At the time, he said he would not accept a position with the team in community relations.

But Hendricks, who had spent much of his time in Baltimore promoting the Orioles in the community, eventually relented and accepted the position. On Monday, Hendricks, dressed as Santa Claus, appeared in downtown Baltimore with several players at an Orioles Christmas party for 100 children from the Harriet Tubman Elementary School and the City Springs Elementary School.

"He played Santa and was yelling 'Ho ho ho' and was as happy as can be giving out presents," said Gibbons, who attended the event. "Obviously this comes as a shock and out of nowhere. My respects go out to his family and his children."

Hendricks began his playing career with the Orioles in 1968, hitting .202 in 79 games. Perhaps his best moments on the field came in 1970, when he hit .364 against Cincinnati in the World Series, which Baltimore won in five games. Hendricks hit .273 in 24 postseason games with the Orioles and New York Yankees.

He played in the majors for 12 years, accumulating a .222 batting average in 658 games. For all but one of those seasons, Hendricks wore an Orioles uniform.

"I shed some tears over it," Perlozzo said in October about the decision not to renew Hendricks's contract. "He's a great man, no question about it. He represents everything the Orioles represent."

Hendricks became Earl Weaver's bullpen coach in 1977. He was inducted into the Orioles' Hall of Fame in 2001, becoming the first person still active with the team to be enshrined.

"Elrod was always a smiling face," Gibbons said. "I remember he yelled at me if I walked by him and didn't say hello."

Hendricks also played briefly for the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. His most productive season came in 1970, when he hit 12home runs with 41 RBI. Hendricks went 4-for-11 (.364) with a home run and four RBI to help Baltimore defeat the Cincinnati Reds in the1970 World Series. He also appeared in the 1976 World Series for the Yankees against Cincinnati, made the Orioles bullpen coach following the 1977 season, and was a player-coach in 1978–79.

Hendricks is best remembered for a bizarre defensive play in Game 1 of the 1970 World Series. In a tied game with one out in the sixthinning, the Reds had runners on the corners. Cincinnati pinch hitter Ty Cline hit a high chopper in front of the plate, which Hendricks grabbed with his bare hand. Bernie Carbo, who was on third base, was running home on the play. Hendricks lunged toward Carbo, attempting to tag him out as umpire Ken Burkhart moved toward the field to call the ball fair. Burkhart collided with Hendricks, spinning to the ground as Hendricks tagged Carbo with an empty glove (the ball was still in his other hand). The distracted umpire called Carbo out on the basis of the glove tag. Reds manager Sparky Anderson argued the play to no avail.[2] (Ironically, replays showed Carbo had missed the plate entirely while trying to avoid Hendricks' tag.)

Hendricks hit a game-tying home run in the top of the fifth inning. Brooks Robinson hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh, clinching the Orioles' first win of the Series, 4–3.

He also played a part in a memorable play from the previous year's World Series. With the Mets leading 3–0 and two Orioles on base with two outs in the fourth inning of Game 3, Hendricks cracked a hard-hit line drive into the left-center field gap that most thought would go for extra bases, scoring two runs and putting the Orioles back in the game. But center fielder Tommie Agee, who was playing the left-handed Hendricks to pull in right-center, chased down the ball on a dead sprint, extending his left arm for a memorable backhanded over-the-shoulder catch in the webbing of his glove.[3]

In another unusual moment, Hendricks made a relief pitching appearance on a June 26, 1978 game against the Toronto Blue Jays. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Hendricks's Orioles were losing 24–6, and manager Earl Weaver had already resorted to using position player Larry Harlow to try to get outs that inning. Hendricks pitched surprisingly well, allowing no runs and only two baserunners over 21⁄3 innings of work.[4]

In 711 games played, including 658 with Baltimore, Hendricks was a .220 hitter with 62 home runs and 230 RBI. In nine postseason games, he had .273, two HR, 10 RBI. In 602 games as a catcher, Hendricks collected 2783 outs, 228 assists, 31 double plays, and committed just only 29 errors for a significant .990 fielding percentage.

Hendricks was a big star in Puerto Rico. He played for 17 seasons with the Cangrejeros de Santurce and occupies third place on the all-time list in homers with 105.

Hendricks became a fixture in Baltimore by holding the position as bullpen coach for 28 years, the longest coaching tenure in Orioles history. His contract was not renewed for that position as of October 2005, in part because he had a mild stroke in April. The 2005 season marked the 37th that Hendricks served in a Baltimore uniform as a player or coach, another club record. He also had the longest active coaching streak with one club among all major league coaches. After his stroke, Hendricks was reassigned to another position within the organization, one that would enable the club to take advantage of his huge popularity within the Baltimore community; along with his loyalty to the "Orioles way" and to the traditions of baseball, he was a tireless signer of pre-game autographs and a general good-will ambassador. He was slated to be the host for the 2006 Baltimore Baseball Cruise aboard The Golden Princess.